Yemen authorities have denounced the previously allied separatist group’s claim to self-rule, further heightening divisions among superficial allies in the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels elsewhere in Yemen.
The UAE-backed separatists’ Southern Transitional Council (STC) disregarded a peace deal with the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, declaring an overnight a state of emergency.
While accusing the government of corruption, the separatists said they would “self-govern” Aden and other southern provinces.
The STC intends to “reinstate” the independent state that existed in the region until 1990.
However, the war-torn country’s internationally recognized government dismissed the STC’s self-rule claim, describing the move as a continuation of the armed rebellion that began last August.
The authorities said the security authorities in the provinces of Abyan, Shabwa, Hadramout, al-Mahra, and the island of Socotra rejected the move as a “clear and definite coup”.
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The only president of the country is authorized by law to declare an emergency, and militias cannot replace the institutions of the state, Shabwa security forces said in a statement.
While referring to a 2019 power-sharing deal between the separatists and the government, Hadramout authorities said the STC’s act is “a violation of the Riyadh Agreement.”
Abyan, al- Mahra and Socotra provinces called for loyalty to the president, fearing the STC’s overnight decision of self-rule could further deepen the crisis already existing in the country.
The STC did not respond to the statements from the five provinces.
Saudis Between Devil and Deep Blue Sea
Last August, STC-aligned forces took control of Aden, the temporary capital of Hadi’s government. The STC and the Yemeni government later reached a power-sharing formula, under Saudi Arabia. The deal involved a government reshuffle and for military and security forces to be merged into the interior and defense ministries. However, the full implantation has yet to see the light of the day.
Peter Salisbury is a Yemen expert, who said both sides have complained to each other of noncompliance with the peace deal and were reinforcing with intent to resume infighting.
He said Saudi Arabia, which brokered the power-sharing deal could not materialize the implementation.
“Each side wants the Saudis to support its narrative and Riyadh is really caught in the middle right now,” he said.
Catherine Shakdam, another expert on Yemen, told media that the main issue for Saudi Arabia has to do with the fact that it has supported the Hadi government.
“Hadi has lost whatever legitimacy he may have had for time being. We should remember that the only legitimacy that he had was given by the international community,” London-based expert said.
“There was a perception that if the international community didn’t support him, then de facto sovereignty would fall onto the Houthi movement,” she said.
The civil war in Yemen started in 2014 when the Houthis seized the country’s north, including the capital, Sanaa, after driving Hadi from power.
A Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the Houthis in a bid to restore the government in 2015.
Since, the civil war that gradually swelled into a regional conflict, has killed more than 100,000 people. The conflict has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, creating extreme malnutrition in the country.
